Unarranged Marriage
by tiny.coco.chan
Summary: All Hinata had to do was to get Sasuke to marry her. Too bad arranged marriages were illegal in Konoha. Too bad she had to win his heart instead. Too bad he didn't even KNOW about it... *SasuHina & Other Pairings*
1. Seducing Sasuke

**Practically all of my fics have been AU.**

**So I decided to just get this canon-ish story out of my system.**

**(It takes place after Itachi and Kisame paid a visit to Konoha, and Sasuke is still bed-ridden from Itachi's Tsukuyomi illusion.)**

**I tried not to make it too terribly cliche, but should I continue it...?**

**Please Read and Review! Arigato! ^_^**

* * *

Hinata's POV

Hinata Hyuuga knelt before her father, Hiashi Hyuuga. His menacing, white eyes glared down at her while she studied the delicately woven mats on the floor. She shifted her weight from one knee to the next, uncomfortable under her father's gaze. The rest of the Hyuuga council stared at the two on either side of them. That didn't help her nerves either.

"Hinata, you will be accepted back into the Hyuuga clan as its heiress," Hiashi stated.

She held her breath, soaking the information in. She remembered how her father accused her of being weak and pathetic. He deemed her unfit as heir to the clan, and he named her younger sister Hanabi the new successor.

Hinata failed in other aspects of her life too. Her teammates had to constantly rescue her, costing the outcome of their missions. Kiba and Shino acted like they didn't mind, but they were ninjas. Ninjas carried out missions, and that was the whole point of their hard work. Not only did she suffer whenever she tried to help, she usually brought her teammates down with her.

She also wasn't even good enough for Naruto Uzumaki, the love of her life. He now made out with Sakura Haruno behind Ichiraku's every day at 4 o' clock. Hinata knew this as a fact; she still stalked him. Of course, Naruto had been oblivious to her crush on him since their academy days. So he wouldn't notice the shy girl watching every time he stuck his tongue down Sakura's throat.

Worthless, that's how she felt… Unless her father really was accepting her back into the clan as heiress. Maybe her effort in the Chuunin Exams impressed Hiashi...

"However," he added, "you are still weak. That is why you must find a husband to help you lead the clan. The council has decided that you are to marry Sasuke Uchiha."

...or not.

Hinata immediately gasped, all the wind knocked out of her. Hinata was only 13 years old, way too early to think of marriage. She hadn't even been ready to reveal her crush on Naruto.

"An arranged m-marriage?" she squeaked. "With S-sasuke Uchiha?"

She had already lost Naruto; she didn't want to lose her freedom to love another person of her choosing either.

"No, it's not an arranged marriage. As you know, Uchiha doesn't like to be told to do anything. He himself doesn't know of our plans," Hiashi explained.

She didn't point out that she didn't like to be forced to marry people either.

"Then how am I supposed to marry him?" Hinata asked, confused.

"You're going to have to get him to fall in love with you. If you play your cards right, you may marry at Konoha's legal age of 16," her father commanded. "If you don't, you won't be accepted into the Hyuuga clan. We would also have to give you the cursed seal since you wouldn't be living in the Hyuuga manor anymore."

So that was the catch to her title as heiress. She wanted to slap herself for thinking that Hiashi was capable of loving her.

"I-I understand, Father," she whispered, trying not to cry.

For the next three years of her life, Hinata would be condemned to trying to get Konoha's heartthrob to fall in love with her.

*/*/*/*/*

"Seduce Sasuke? Are you serious?" Kiba laughed.

Kurenai-sensei was called to be part of an emergency back-up team, and Shino was attending a top secret Aburame clan meeting. That left Hinata and Kiba to be practicing in their training field by themselves that day. Of course, the both of them slacked off a bit without adult supervision. They took their fifth break that hour, and Hinata brought up the subject of the Hyuuga clan's latest meeting.

"I have t-to if I want to be a Hyuuga again," Hinata said quietly.

"If you marry him, you won't be a Hyuuga. You'll be an Uchiha," Kiba pointed out, flashing a teasing grin.

"K-kiba-kun, this is serious! I'm only 13! W-what am I going to do? Why Sasuke-san?" Hinata panicked.

Out of all of the people in the Village Hidden in the Leaves, the clan picked Sasuke Uchiha. He had a reputation for being stoic and serious, the opposite of her beloved Naruto. Tears started forming as she bit her lip.

"Don't cry, Hinata. I'm sure old Hiashi was just joking with you," he grinned again.

"Well, it wasn't f-funny!" she mumbled.

"Are you sure you want to be a Hyuuga again? I mean, they pretty much treated you like crap," Kiba asked, blunt but concerned.

"I really w-want to make a difference, to prove I'm not worthless," Hinata explained. "I've always d-done things wrong, even by being born. I wasn't the son that my f-father wanted me to be. He hated me because I was t-too soft even for a girl, and he hates me now because I r-remind him of my mother. I've always b-been a burden to the Hyuuga clan. N-now I have a chance to redeem myself, and I'll do a-anything to make my dream come true."

"Hinata, you don't need to become heiress to prove your worth," he said.

"T-this is important t-to me, Kiba-kun," she said softly. "Will you help me? P-please?"

"Fine," he sighed then thought aloud, "but I don't really know much about seducing guys."

Hinata blushed and squeaked, "I'm n-not going to s-seduce him!"

"Then how are you going to get him to marry you?" he inquired.

"I d-don't k-know," she admitted, blushing and looking down.

"As I was saying," Kiba continued, "I'm not good in the seducing department, but I think I might know who is."

"W-who?" Hinata asked.

"Ino Yamanaka," he stated, as if that was the logical answer.

"Ino-chan l-likes Sasuke-san," she pointed out.

Kiba grinned, "Not anymore! Shikamaru finally got off of his lazy ass and asked her out. They're officially a couple."

"K-kiba-kun!" Hinata gasped. "S-swearing isn't g-good!"

"I know, but it's fun!" he laughed. "We'll go visit Ino tomorrow. I promised my mom I would clean my room this evening. Ugh."

* * *

Sasuke's POV

It was exactly midnight when he had slipped out of his hospital room and snuck into the training grounds.

Sasuke Uchiha panted heavily as he struck his 465th shuriken onto the center of the target. He wanted to be able to hit 500 in a row, just like his older brother, Itachi Uchiha, could. Activating his sharingan, Sasuke pulled out five more shuriken, ready for another round. He tossed the throwing stars and then collapsed from exhaustion again. This time, he couldn't get up.

470 shuriken. That's all he could do.

Sasuke felt completely worthless, as if all of his training was a waste. He then thought of how Itachi merely flicked him away in favor of capturing Naruto. How could the dobe be more important than him?

After all, Itachi massacred the entire Uchiha clan, except for Sasuke, and he owed Sasuke a one-on-one battle. He even engulfed Sasuke into the memories of the past by using his Tsukuyomi, choosing to delay their fight.

Fuck Itachi. He would defeat him.

Anger flared up as he slowly got up and tossed another five shuriken. Whenever he thought about Itachi, he felt hatred boiling inside of him, giving him an extra energy boost.

Another source of energy was the curse mark on Sasuke's neck. Orochimaru had granted him this taste of power. It was like a bag of chips, it's impossible to eat just one. (No wonder Chouji constantly munched on them.) Sasuke craved the power that Orochimaru had to offer. However, this meant leaving Konoha, and that's something Sasuke would never want to do. After all, the Uchiha clan used to be in charge of the police force in Konoha.

"S-sasuke-san?" a small voice called out.

Without turning around, he immediately threw a shuriken at the unknown person. The training grounds were supposed to be vacant at night. Whoever had snuck up on him was probably up to no good.

"Who are you?" he asked with no hint of fear in his voice.

The person let out a small whimper, so he turned around.

In front of him was a mouse of a girl. She panted for breath, a tiny cut on her cheek that was probably from the shuriken. Sasuke barely recognized her as Hinata Hyuuga. She was probably the least threatening person in the whole Leaf Village.

"Um...," Hinata squeaked, "sorry I s-snuck up on you."

"A ninja waits until the time is right, when the enemy sleeps and drops his guard. When his weapons lie forgotten in the stillness of the night, that is the moment for a ninja to strike," he stated. "You tried, but I never let my guard down."

"I w-wasn't trying to attack you. I-I usually go to the training field next to t-this one every night, but that one was closed. So I c-came here," she explained.

This surprised him. She must have been serious about getting stronger, just like him.

"Are you strong?" Sasuke questioned.

Hinata looked startled, as if she didn't know what to answer. She started playing with her hands, poking her index fingers together.

"I...um... I-I," she stuttered, "d-don't know."

"Then I'll test you," he said coldly.

"Um...I'm n-not ready," she said softly.

"Tomorrow," he ordered, "at this time."

"I... o-okay," she agreed.

"Good," Sasuke smirked. "I'll see you then."

He turned around and pulled out five shuriken, ready to get back to his goal of 500. As expected, all five of them landed on the target. 480 shuriken, almost there. Sasuke was almost tempted to grin in satisfaction. He was about to make his goal, and the next day he would get to spar. This would definitely help him get stronger.

* * *

Hinata's POV

Hinata continued to watch Sasuke throw numerous shuriken at a target, five at a time. She held her breath at his precision and speed. She never had a chance to observe him before because she was knocked out during his battle with Gaara at the Chuunin Exams.

Sasuke was the prodigy of the Uchiha clan while Hinata was the failure of the Hyuuga clan. There was no wonder why the council had chosen him to be her husband. Well, IF he wanted to marry her. Without an arranged marriage, how could a cold guy like Sasuke love a shy girl like Hinata? She sighed, wondering what to do.

Maybe Kiba was right; maybe she didn't have to be part of the Hyuuga clan to prove her worth. Having the cursed seal wouldn't be too bad either. Neji had lived with one since he was four years old. She could also try to find another place to live besides the Hyuuga manor. Maybe she could rent an apartment next to Naruto's...

"Are you just going to stand there and stare at me?" Sasuke asked, breaking her free from her thoughts.

"S-sorry," she squeaked.

"You might as well train. You said you've been doing it every night, after all," he continued then turned around again.

"Y-you're right," she squeaked again, then activated her Kekke Genkai by doing some hand signs and crying out, "Byakugan!"

She tossed several kunai into the air, looked at the ground, and then dodged the falling blades. This was one of her newest exercises. It tested her speed, agility, and Byakugan vision. After barely avoiding the last kunai, Hinata took a short break.

"You need to work on your stamina," Sasuke noted as he hurled more shuriken at his target.

She knew that she still had a long way to go, but it hurt to have it pointed out.

"I k-know," she whispered. "How are you so p-perfect?"

"If I didn't know that you like Naruto, then I would've thought that was a compliment," Sasuke smirked as he threw his last shuriken.

Hinata turned a bright shade of red and protested, "I-I-I d-d-d-on't l-l-l-like N-n-n-n-aruto-kun!"

"Then why do you address him using 'kun' and with me you use 'san?'" he asked. "Why do you always go out of your way to watch him make out with Sakura?"

"Um," she barely managed to croak as her blush deepened.

Finally, he ended with a simple, "Why do you like Naruto in the first place?"

"H-h-he's strong," she whispered, barely audible. "H-he never g-gives up, and I… I want to b-be just like him."

"Hn," Sasuke grunted. "We better go now, before we get caught."

"Y-y-yes," she agreed.

They both left each other without a single goodbye.

Hinata wondered if she really wanted to go through the effort of getting Sasuke to fall in love with her. After all, he was right; she was already in love with Naruto, even if he enjoyed Sakura's lips over hers.


	2. I Do

**Wow, I think I'm actually going to continue this story! ^_^**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed the first chapter: ****_Skye the Golden Dragon, Kira Inuzuka, Kirei Yuki Tenshi, ShikaMariUchiha, rcr, GreenRose58_**

**You all made my day! Arigato!**

**So here's the second chapter...**

**Please Read and Review! **

* * *

Sakura's POV

Sakura Haruno plastered a smile on her face before she opened the door to Sasuke's hospital room. After all, the purpose of her visits was to uplift her teammate's spirits. He seemed to be even angstier, if that was even a word, than usual after his encounter with Itachi and Kisame. Although she no longer felt any romantic feelings for Sasuke, she still deeply cared for him.

"At least, I hope I don't have feelings for him anymore," she whispered to herself, trying to believe her own lie.

Lately, Sakura had been picturing Sasuke in her mind whenever she made out with Naruto behind Ichiraku's. She hated to mentally cheat on her boyfriend, but she still felt attraction for Sasuke. After all, she possessed these feelings since her academy days. Sakura had even broken her bond of friendship with Ino Yamanaka because they both shared the same crush...

Not wanting to dwell on the subject of her ex-friend any longer, Sakura entered Sasuke's hospital room with the biggest smile she could muster.

"Hi, Sasuke," she sang.

Sasuke didn't say anything; he just sat up and stared at the wall ahead of him.

"Are you feeling any better?" she asked.

Even though it always failed, Sakura tried to start a conversation with the Uchiha whenever she visited him. Ever since the day of the Tsukuyomi, he had been engulfed in silence. He now only responded to people by grunting.

"Hn," Sasuke replied.

Sakura's smile wavered as she felt pain radiate from her bedridden teammate. Nobody knew what Sasuke exactly saw from Itachi's Tsukuyomi, but she could feel he was hurting. She desperately wanted to hug him and tell him that everything would be better. However, Sasuke hated lies, and he hated hugs.

"I brought an orange," Sakura blurted out as she pulled out the delectable fruit. "You know, vitamin C to make you stronger!"

She started humming an improvised tune to fill up the silence as she began peeling the orange. She also wondered if she would be doing the same thing if Naruto was in the hospital instead of Sasuke.

* * *

Ino's POV

"Thank you and have a nice day!" Ino Yamanaka chirped to her latest customer.

"No, I should be thanking you! This youthful flower will bring Sakura-chan the happiness of spring!" Rock Lee declared. "Then she will love me with the passion of youth!"

He marched out of the Yamanaka Flower Shop with none other than a sakura blossom in his hands.

"Doesn't he know that Sakura's already going out with Naruto?" Ino clucked while shaking her head in disbelief.

She placed the coins into their designated sections in the cash register. It was only noon, and Ino felt overwhelmed by the amount of customers lately. That was probably due to the increased number of people in the hospital ever since Orochimaru tried to destroy Konoha. Plus, Sasuke was in the hospital due to Itachi's Tsukuyomi. Ino wished she could comfort the young Uchiha, as a friend of course. She now had a boyfriend who she was crazy about.

"I wonder when Shikamaru's going to get here," Ino wondered aloud.

"Do all women talk to themselves?" a voice behind her questioned.

Surprised, she turned around to see none other than Shikamaru Nara, her lazy boyfriend, smirking at her.

"Oh, hi Shikamaru!" Ino squealed.

"I was wondering if you wanted to go out to dinner tonight," he yawned.

"Of course I want to go!" she beamed, already planning an outfit for her date.

She definitely wanted to wear her new blue halter top that she got on sale from her last shopping spree.

"With Chouji too," he added.

Ino's smile fell. Of course he would include Chouji; Shikamaru was too lazy to set up a real date with her. In fact, he hardly put any effort into their relationship at all. This got on Ino's nerves, and an angry Ino never did the world justice.

"Why can't it be just us two?" she pouted as she crossed her arms.

Before the lazy ninja could answer, two familiar genins entered the flower shop. The first one walked in confidently, a dog riding on top of his head. The other scurried closely behind, blushing a deeper shade of red every step she took.

"Kiba! Hinata!" Ino squealed. "Long time no see!"

"Hey!" Kiba grinned when he spotted the couple. "We were just looking for you, Ino!"

Kiba and Hinata joined Shikamaru and Ino at the flower shop's counter.

"Really, why?" Ino inquired.

Although they were all part of the Rookie Nine, Ino didn't know Kiba and Hinata very well. Of course, they shared the same classes in their academy days. However, Hinata was the wallflower type who hardly interacted with others. Kiba, while more popular, had avoided girls because of their "cooties."

"Could you t-tutor me, please?" Hinata asked quietly.

"Me? I think you should be asking Shikamaru," the blonde girl gestured to her boyfriend.

Although Ino received the second highest grades in the class in her academy days, the lazy ninja was the true genius.

The shy girl looked down and stuttered, "Um, w-what I mean is-"

"Hinata needs you to teach her how to seduce Sasuke," Kiba finished for his friend.

He displayed a mischievous grin, as if he knew a secret nobody else did. This caused Hinata to blush to an even deeper shade of red. Ino just stood there, confused. She thought that the Hyuuga liked Naruto, not Sasuke.

"I don't mean to be troublesome, but Sasuke isn't the type to have a crush," Shikamaru noted.

"That's why we came to you, Ino. You seem to be an expert at that kunoichi refinement crap." Kiba explained casually.

"Kiba-kun, i-it isn't crap," Hinata reminded her friend.

"You're a dog-breath jerk," Ino glared at Kiba, then turned to Hinata and smiled, "but Hinata is cool. I'll teach you how to get Sasuke faster than you can say 'Mind Transfer Jutsu!'"

"T-thank you, Ino-sensei!" Hinata smiled.

'"Sensei?'" Kiba snorted. "That's hilarious!"

"Let's start your lessons now!" Ino squealed as she linked arms with Hinata. "Shikamaru, can you take over the cash register for me? Thanks!"

"Women," Shikamaru muttered. "So troublesome."

"That's why I'm still single and sexy," Kiba grinned.

"You're as sexy as Lord Jiraiya in a Speedo," Ino rolled her eyes as she dragged Hinata out of the flower shop.

*/*/*/*/*

Ino paced impatiently around her room. She hadn't expected her new student to be such a prude. Well, Ino did know that Hinata always wore an oversized jacket. However, the blonde girl just thought it was because the shy girl was cold. Ino now realized how stupid her assumption was.

Earlier, she had brought Hinata to the Yamanaka house. She had insisted on giving the shy girl a makeover. So the blonde girl made Hinata try on one of her signature purple outfits. That was half an hour ago; Hinata was still in the closet, not wanting to come out.

"Hinata, are you ready yet?" Ino whined for the thousandth time.

She pressed her ear against the closet door and heard Hinata squeak a muffled, "N-no."

Again.

"It's just a purple sleeveless top and a skirt," Ino explained once more. "You're not going to look like a slut; I wear it all the time."

"I-I don't feel comfortable wearing this," Hinata called out from the other side of the door. "Can I have m-my jacket back?"

"Hinata!" Ino yelled in disbelief. "Are you going to quit because you feel uncomfortable? You are a ninja, a shinobi of Konoha. You will always have to do things that you don't want to do!"

A sniffle escaped from inside the closet. Ino opened the door to find Hinata curled up into a ball, crying.

"I-I'm sorry, Ino-sensei," the shy girl whispered while shaking. "I w-will do as I'm told."

Ino studied the weeping girl and patted her back, "Sorry if I was being harsh; I guess I got too excited."

Hinata looked up and gave a weak smile through her tears. Ino couldn't help but feel awful that she had upset her student and fellow genin. After all, she had already lost the friendship of the last person she had helped, Sakura Haruno.

Ino had always been the most popular and confident kunoichi in her academy days. Girls constantly asked her for advice on hair, drawing, singing, outfits, flower arranging, makeup, dancing, and anything else feminine. They worshipped her almost to the point of insanity. Ino enjoyed the attention, practically craved it, but she felt utterly alone. All of the girls wanted to be her, not be with her. They wanted to steal Ino's natural popularity and happiness. All Ino wanted was a real friend.

That's when she saw an equally lonely-looking girl who hid behind a shield of pink hair. Ino realized that they both felt the same sorrow. So she decided to help the girl she soon came to know as Sakura Haruno, her best friend. Ino gave her the confidence to overcome her large forehead, and Sakura reciprocated by providing friendship.

Ino's academy days escalated into those of pure bliss. She now had a best friend to share her onigiri with. After all, she couldn't eat the whole thing and risk gaining chunky thighs. Ino had even started swooning for Sasuke Uchiha, the cutest boy in the academy. His hair, his confidence, his eyes, and his skills were beyond perfect. Ino couldn't help but secretly crush on him.

That's when everything went downhill.

When Sakura had found out about Ino's crush, the blonde-haired girl had cast her away as a rival. This hurt, and Ino was once again lonely. Now she was just getting to really know Hinata, and she didn't want to lose her too.

"T-thank you, Ino-sensei," Hinata smiled shyly.

"Call me Ino-chan," Ino beamed. "'Sensei' makes me feel old, and I don't want premature wrinkles."

The shy girl nodded and apologized, "Sorry for getting t-tears all over your top, Ino-chan."

"It's fine; I have a million of those," the blonde girl replied and waved her hand dismissively, "but was there a real reason why you were crying? Is someone forcing you to do something?"

Ino somehow sensed that Hinata was suffering from something far greater than the discomfort of wearing a skirt.

"Y-yes," Hinata said quietly, "there is. You were right; I'll always h-have to follow orders. I-I don't like Sasuke-san at all. My clan is forcing me t-to marry him."

Ino gasped, "I thought that they banned arranged marriages in Konoha five years ago."

"That's r-right. Plus, Sasuke-san wouldn't w-want to be told what to do anyway," the Hyuuga answered. "That's why I have to make him fall in l-love with me myself."

Ino studied the shy girl's miserable expression. She decided that she should stop asking questions and start helping her new friend.

"When I'm done with you, Sasuke won't know what hit him!" Ino winked. "By the way, purple is so your color!"

* * *

Hinata's POV

It was 4 o' clock, and Hinata hid behind a fence behind Ichiraku's. As expected, Naruto and Sakura unknowingly ran towards the Hyuuga girl's hiding spot as they argued and giggled. After punching Naruto in the head, Sakura grabbed his jumpsuit to pull him closer. Then Naruto took over and kissed his pink-haired girlfriend.

Hinata's heart shattered into tiny, unrecognizable pieces for the thousandth time as she watched the scene before her. It just reminded her of one of the many things she failed at in life. After all, the almost-heiress could no longer love freely. Instead, she was chained to the Uchiha, who didn't even know they were bound together. She secretly hated him for causing her this trouble. Immediately after thinking this, Hinata remembered a little ditty that Hanabi and she made up when they used to be close.

Life sucks…

…and then you die…

…but when you're a Hyuuga…

…you die with pride.

She decided was going to marry Sasuke whether she liked it or not. Hinata still had some Hyuuga pride left in her, so she wasn't going to back down and give up.

"I just wish that it was anybody except for Sasuke-san," she whispered to herself.

Naruto pulled away from Sakura for a second. He looked around as if he was searching for something. Hinata gasped, half-surprised that he had heard her and half-scared of what he was going to do if he found out she was watching them. She held her breath and remained very still, straining her ears to listen to her crush's words.

"Did you hear something, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked. "Something about Sasuke-teme?"

"No, you're probably just imagining things," Sakura rolled her eyes, but for some reason looked guilty. "You've been paranoid ever since your encounter with Itachi and Kisame."

"I know," Naruto grinned sheepishly, "but you can never be too careful!"

With that said, the two embraced each other again. Hinata sighed in relief, but that was short-lived. The pain in her heart returned as Naruto shoved his tongue down Sakura's throat.

Maybe she shouldn't stalk Naruto anymore.

*/*/*/*/*

Hinata touched her cheek absentmindedly as she remembered what happened the last time she had snuck up on Sasuke when he was training at night. Getting a shuriken thrown at her face was not the best feeling in the world. However, the shy girl knew she would have to suck it up and take all of the blows he would inflict upon her tonight; they were going to spar.

"Sasuke-san, y-you said…you wanted to f-fight tonight," Hinata said quietly as she walked up to him.

Instead of practicing with shuriken, he now had woven a web of chakra strings between two trees. There were tiny slits in the web that were barely visible, and that's where Sasuke aimed his kunai. After the kunai flew through the slits, they struck a log that already had numerous kunai on it.

Hinata continued to watch the Uchiha train quietly. She wondered how he possessed such speed and accuracy with his weapons; he could probably even rival TenTen. After the log split in half due to the repeated blows of the kunai, Sasuke finally turned around.

"I'm done warming up," he stated. "Let's fight."

With that said, they both activated their Kekkei Genkais. Hinata's veins surrounding her eyes bulged to give her the maximum effect of her Byakugan. She studied Sasuke's own eye transformation from ebony to crimson. His Sharingan had not yet fully developed, but the almost-heiress knew that Sasuke himself was still quite powerful. Even though she had not seen it herself, she heard that the Uchiha actually went against Subaku no Gaara as an equal in the Chuunin Exams.

Hinata then remembered her own fight in the preliminaries. Her match happened to be against Neji who despised her for all that she was worth. He picked apart every one of her flaws and weaknesses. It was not only humiliating in front of Naruto, but it also tore apart her own soul. She had considered withdrawing from the match like Kiba had told her to do. When she didn't, she ended up being pummeled into a near-death state. The memories of the pain frightened her, and Hinata couldn't move as she locked eyes with the Uchiha.

"Why are you hesitating?" Sasuke observed nonchalantly. "I thought you wanted to fight."

"I d-do!" Hinata cried.

Then she gasped; those were the words she would have to say when they would get married, IF they got married. So far, it looked like he wasn't seduced at all by her pathetic attempt at confidence.

Ino had told her that confidence was sexy.

"Um… I m-mean," she mumbled, "I…c-can do this."

"Good," he smirked. "I've wanted to spar since I got into that damned hospital."

"S-sasuke-san!" the almost-heiress gasped. "It's n-not good to swear."

"Letting your guard down isn't good either," he stated as he pulled out a kunai and flung it at her.

* * *

**Yeah, I kinda elaborated on Ino's background story to make it a little more sad-ish****.**

**I feel that the females of Naruto don't really have those tear-jerking flashbacks that guys like Gaara, Sasuke, Naruto, Chouji, Neji, Pain, etc. have.**

**So in honor of the kunoichi, this whole chapter is from the maidens in love's POV.**

**(In the Path of Ninja 2 for DS, one of the kumites is "Maidens in Love" starring Sakura, Ino, and Hinata.)**

**Maybe I'm being too feminist since it's a shonen manga after all... IDK...**


	3. You Win, You're Gone

Sasuke's POV

Sasuke wasn't impressed.

Yes, Hinata Hyuuga had dodged the kunai that he threw at her, but anybody could do that, even the ever-annoying Sakura.

At the thought of Sakura Haruno, Sasuke automatically felt like wincing. When they were both placed on team seven, he unfortunately realized that she was no different from the rest of Konoha's desperate female population. In fact, she had been smitten with him ever since their academy days. The Uchiha could tell that Sakura only liked him for his looks and skills; it was the same with everyone else.

Sure, Sakura had gotten to learn more about the true Sasuke during their missions together, but she'd never know his true pain. She'd never be able to truly empathize with his loneliness; she couldn't understand why he was so dark.

That's why Sakura had finally given up on the avenger and granted the optimistic, uplifting Naruto a chance at love. Sasuke smirked at the memory of the two going out on their first date at Ichiraku's after the Chuunin Exams. Afterwards, the dobe couldn't stop bragging about his first kiss with their pink-haired teammate. The annoying couple now went out together every day at 4 o' clock. Sasuke didn't even want to know what sort of "activities" those two engaged in.

Suddenly, Sasuke felt a chakra-enfused jab to both of his hands. It didn't hurt at all, but it did leave him a bit surprised.

"A n-ninja never lets down h-his guard," Hinata smiled shyly.

Not to be outdone, he smirked, "I was going to say the same to you."

He rapidly started forming hand signs and shouted, "Fire style! Fireball jutsu!"

Sasuke remembered how his father Fugaku taught him this jutsu. It was now the avenger's favorite one, minus Chidori. He gathered as much chakra as he could into his chest, and then he released it violently from his mouth into a burst of flames…

Fuck.

It turned out that his favorite jutsu had only produced a mere flicker and died quickly. Frustrated, he tried again, receiving the same pathetic results.

While this was happening, Sasuke had been dodging attacks from Hinata. She struggled to keep him in range of her hand-to-hand combat attacks. However, her Byakugan eyes no longer looked scared as they did in the past; they were determined. She also maintained steady control of the chakra in her punches.

That's when Sasuke put two and two together: Hand-to-hand combat. Byakugan. Chakra punches.

Of course! She was using the Hyuuga's Gentle Fist fighting style. That meant every blow she inflicted upon him would travel directly to his chakra system. Therefore, the chakra flow would stop in that area. Since she had hit both of his hands earlier, the avenger's chakra couldn't flow there, rendering his hand signs for ninjutsu and genjutsu useless. He had underestimated her.

Sasuke was _almost_ impressed.

The Hyuuga had forgotten that Sasuke still had great skill in taijutsu. He then stopped blocking her attacks long enough to run out of her range. Since the Uchiha's speed rivaled Rock Lee's, he appeared to be nearly invisible. She would never guess that the avenger hid behind a tree with a shuriken ready.

That's when Hinata turned around and stared straight at him, or at least at the tree he was behind. Sasuke silently cursed himself as he remembered that the Byakugan had an almost 360 degree field of vision and could see chakra systems. Since his element of surprise failed, he decided to just attack. After running from behind the tree, the avenger flung his shuriken at the Hyuuga girl. She tried to dodge, but it managed to slice her left shoulder…

…in the exact place where Itachi had sliced Sasuke's left shoulder on the night of the Uchiha massacre.

Hinata let out a squeak as she clutched her shoulder and hesitated for a couple of seconds. Then with her eyes squinted in concentration, she began forming hand signs. Sasuke knew he could have used that short amount of time to his advantage, but something stopped him. As he stared at her wounded shoulder, he felt waves of memory crashing over him.

Blood. Bodies. Mother. Father. Dead. Kill. Itachi.

Sasuke couldn't think straight; he didn't even flinch when Hinata reactivated her Byakugan and punched him again, this time in the gut.

* * *

Hinata's POV

Hinata stood before Sasuke, dumbfounded as to why he suddenly stopped fighting. She lowered her fists, deactivated her Byakugan, and studied him. The Uchiha stared ahead, not moving or seeing.

"S-sasuke-san?" she squeaked.

After calling his name out a couple of more times, Hinata didn't know what to do; he continued to remain unresponsive. She thought that a good slap on the face would snap him out of his trance.

However, Ino had said that slapping a guy's butt was flirty…

Hinata immediately blushed at the thought of her friend's advice. There was no way that the Hyuuga girl would ever engage in any butt-slapping activities. Hinata could hardly bring herself to touch the hand of a boy, let alone his ass. Anyway, what would the Uchiha think if she had slapped his butt? She decided that a tap on Sasuke's shoulder would suffice.

"Um…Sasuke-san," she said softly as she lightly tapped his right shoulder.

The Uchiha blinked a couple of times. He studied his surroundings and turned to Hinata with an emotionless expression.

"A-are you okay?" the shy girl asked. "What…h-happened?"

After a moment of staring, Sasuke stated, "Nothing; I'm fine."

"T-that's good," she smiled.

"Not really," he smirked as he reactivated his Sharingan eyes. "You still let down your guard."

She squeaked as he ran towards her at lightning speed. She hurriedly activated her Kekkei Genkai and shifted into a defensive stance. Sasuke's fist met with her palm, so Hinata planned to counterattack with her other hand. However, she lost her balance and fell backward, bringing the avenger along with her. They collided, rolled down a hill, and lay in a heap on some weeds. Sasuke immediately jumped up, ready to continue to fight. Hinata, however, remained on the ground and groaned.

"Y-you win," she whispered.

Hinata slowly stood up, panting the whole time. She felt dead-tired. In fact, all she wanted to do was collapse onto her futon. However, the shy girl also wanted to show Sasuke that she wasn't weak, even though she lost. She stood before him, Hyuuga pride coursing through her veins.

"Thanks for the fight," he stated. "I needed that."

"M-me too; I want to…be stronger," Hinata replied.

"Good. I'll see you tomorrow at the same time." Sasuke said nonchalantly.

* * *

Neji's POV

Neji Hyuuga strode through the Hyuuga compound's numerous hallways, heading for his cousin Hinata's room. She had not woken up yet, which was quiet odd. In fact, she was usually the first to rise in the morning to prepare tea. After his morning training session, Hiashi Hyuuga finally noticed his missing eldest daughter. So now Neji had to fetch his cousin to make some tea.

The Hyuuga prodigy remembered how he used to resent Hinata, how he blamed her as the heiress of the main family for his cursed seal. He had even used the Chuunin Exams preliminaries as an excuse to try to kill her. Neji felt ashamed of his actions after he learned of the real truth behind his father's death, the reason why he detested the main family.

Neji used to believe destiny guided everybody's life; everyone's fate was selected before they were even born. He felt that the branch family would always be trapped to serve the main family for the rest of their lives. It surprised him when his uncle Hiashi explained to him an instance when the main family didn't have the final decision.

Unlike Neji's previous theory, his father Hizashi wasn't forced to die due to a conflict with the Lightning Country. In reality, Hizashi had volunteered to die in place of his twin brother Hiashi. By doing so, his father had gained freedom by making his own choices.

Neji now believed that he too could make his own choices. Even though he still resided in the branch family, he didn't feel condemned to serving the main family. He now focused on becoming stronger, not on trivial subjects such as fate or destiny.

Before he knew it, Neji finally arrived at Hinata's room. He knocked the door, opened it, and viewed the still-sleeping girl. For some reason, she looked completely exhausted. He noticed that blood seeped through fresh bandages on her shoulder; she must have had a tough mission yesterday. However, wasn't Kurenai-sensei still absent on her own emergency mission? Therefore, team eight was temporarily inactive without a jonin leader and couldn't go on missions. Something must have happened yesterday for her shoulder to get cut.

"Hinata-sama, wake up," Neji ordered.

The shy girl stirred for a second. She slowly opened her eyes and blinked in surprise to see her cousin in her bedroom.

"Neji-nii-san?" she squeaked, rolling out of the covers.

"You slept in and missed the morning training session," he stated.

"I didn't m-make any tea! F-father must be furious!" she cried as she hurriedly put on her favorite tan jacket.

Neji was never one to express sympathy. The Hyuuga prodigy had thought that people should just deal with the fact that their fates were sealed. However, he now possessed a new outlook on life, not believing in so-called destiny. That meant he could try out this new feeling of sympathy. Anyway, his little cousin Hinata was in trouble, and he genuinely felt bad for her.

"Hiashi-sama is disappointed in you, but it's not just about the tea," Neji said, concerned.

"I-it's not?" Hinata asked, dumbfounded.

"I'm not sure what he needs to talk to you about," he admitted, "but I have a question to ask you."

"O-ok," she nodded her head.

"How did you get this wound?" the older cousin asked, gesturing to Hinata's left shoulder.

"N-n-n-nothing bad happened!" she squeaked as she clutched her shoulder. "I…was running a-and I scraped it against…a tree branch."

He narrowed his eyes at her obvious lie. However, Neji wasn't one to pry, so he nodded slightly. He excused himself out of Hinata's room and decided to train outside.

*/*/*/*/*

Neji activated his Kekkei Genkai, the Byakugan. He spun in a circle, randomly throwing 10 kunai into the Hyuuga training grounds. After that, he focused his eyes on finding each kunai that he had flung.

"One…Two…Three…Four…," he counted. "Five…Six…Seven…Eight…Nine…"

The tenth kunai seemed to be missing. In fact, four more kunai suddenly disappeared. Neji noticed a familiar chakra system snatching the remaining five kunai in the Hyuuga training grounds.

"Want to train, Neji?" TenTen asked, twirling all 10 kunai around her fingers. "Lee and Guy-sensei are hopping 700 times around the village with their left feet, and I'm pretty sure neither of us wants to join them."

If it had been his teammate Rock Lee, Neji would have been irritated. However, TenTen happened to be the one interrupting his training. Even if he tried to, he couldn't push the brown-eyed girl away; he held her in high respect. TenTen strived to be like the Fifth Hokage, the most powerful kunoichi in Konoha. They both shared the ambition to become stronger.

"Yes, training together sounds like a better alternative," he replied.

"Thanks," TenTen smiled as she effortlessly flung the 10 kunai straight to Neji's head. "Here's your kunai."

The Hyuuga prodigy released chakra from his whole body as he spun around and shouted, "Eight Trigrams Palms Heavenly Spin!"

The chakra shield sent the kunai flying back to TenTen. She grinned as she threw a shuriken to stop the weapons heading toward her. They fell to the ground, scattered in the grassy area. When the brown-eyed girl raised her arms, the 10 kunai rose in the air too, connected to her fingers by nearly-invisible wires. By that time, Neji stopped spinning and smirked.

"You wired your weapons again? Your tricks are getting old," he observed.

"Actually, this one's a new one," TenTen stated as she plucked one of the "floating" kunai in the air.

Neji braced himself, ready to create his absolute defense again. However, instead of attacking him, TenTen closed her eyes and plunged the kunai three inches into her thigh.

"TenTen!" he shouted, shocked out of his usual calm, confident state. "This better be just genjutsu!"

She bent over in pain as he rushed over to her and picked her up bridal-style. The brown-eyed girl wrapped her arms around his neck, and he hugged her close. Her face twisted in pain as the kunai dug deeper into her thigh. Her blood stained his tan jacket, but he didn't care; he was only concerned about his fallen teammate.

"Why did you do that?" he snapped as he carried her towards the Hyuuga compound.

"You do care about me, Neji!" she tried to smile, but it looked more like a grimace due to the pain.

"Of course I do; you're my teammate," Neji replied as they finally arrived indoors. "We need to stop this bleeding."

"That's all you think of me, just a teammate?" TenTen asked, disappointed. "Damn, next time I'll just stab my heart."

"What are you talking about?" he questioned.

"I love you, Neji," she stated as she looked into his eyes. "Now kiss me."

Neji wasn't surprised by TenTen's bluntness. His ambitious teammate did everything she could to achieve her goals. Plus, she just wounded herself to get into his arms. He was obliged to give her points for her detailed plan. So Neji did the only thing he could do; he kissed her.

"Neji-nii-san?" a surprised Hinata squeaked. "TenTen-san?"

Shit. The Hyuuga prodigy had forgotten that they were in the middle of the main hallway. His little cousin's face turned a deep shade of crimson. Neji struggled to keep his own face from showing his embarrassment too.

"I-I'm sorry!" Hinata blushed as she covered her face with her hands. "I d-didn't know-"

"Hinata-sama, where's your healing ointment?" Neji asked, ignoring his cousin's apology. "TenTen had an accident."

After the Chuunin Exams, Neji had decided to get to know Hinata better. He learned that she liked to help people by making healing ointment. Her advanced skills in medicine impressed the Hyuuga prodigy. It was a pity that she had to keep her talent a secret from her father. After all, the shy girl was expected to be head of the Hyuuga clan, not a medic nin.

"I gave m-my last batch to Naruto-kun," Hinata said quietly. "S-sorry."

"It's fine; we'll just go to the hospital," he replied as he walked toward the front entrance with TenTen in his arms. "I'll be home by dinner, Hinata-sama."

"W-wait!" the shy girl called out as she followed the two. "I'm g-going with you."

"I'll be fine, Hinata; Neji's going to take care of me," TenTen smiled, still clinging to her teammate.

"A-actually," Hinata stuttered as she poked her index fingers together, "I need to visit a f-friend of mine."

"Very well. Is Kiba or Shino in the hospital?" Neji inquired.

"N-no. I'm going to visit…Sasuke-san," his cousin admitted, her blush resurfacing.

"He's cute," TenTen commented.

Neji glared at the girl who supposedly loved him. He considered dropping her, but decided against it. They were already on their way to the hospital, and the Hyuuga prodigy didn't want his efforts to go to waste.

"Not as cute as you, Neji," TenTen added then turned to Hinata. "I didn't know you're friends with Sasuke; I've never seen you talk to him."

"It was my father's o-orders to see him. That's why Father wanted t-to speak to me this morning, Neji-nii-san," Hinata explained. "I haven't told you t-this, but the clan is willing to accept me back as heiress."

"What does this have to do with the Uchiha?" Neji said with distaste.

"In order to b-be a Hyuuga again, I must marry Sasuke-san," she said, "but he doesn't k-know about it."

"So you need to get him to fall in love with you?" TenTen asked with a sly smile. "I think I can help you with that."

"Y-you don't have to go through the trouble. Ino-chan is already h-helping me," Hinata admitted.

"That loud-mouthed Yamanaka girl?" Neji said with even greater distaste.

"It's no trouble at all," the brown-eyed girl insisted. "After all, I've already figured out how to get Neji to bend to my will. Sasuke shouldn't be any harder."

"T-thank you, TenTen-san," the shy girl smiled.

They continued to head toward the hospital in silence. Neji soaked in the information Hinata had just told them. He then again sympathized with his younger cousin; she couldn't make her own choice about marriage or love. She was being forced to get someone she hardly knew to fall in love with her. The Hyuuga prodigy felt lucky that nobody cared who he loved since he was of the branch family.

"I'll help in any way that I can too, Hinata-sama," Neji stated as they arrived at Konoha's hospital. "TenTen, I'm going to check you in at the desk."

* * *

Hinata's POV

Hiashi Hyuuga thought that Hinata had not introduced herself to the Uchiha yet. So he sent her to visit the Uchiha a the hospital. Of course, her father didn't know about their midnight meetings. However, their encounters didn't even really count as bonding time; Hinata felt that she hadn't seduced Sasuke in the least bit. TenTen and Ino could get guys, but not Hinata, never Hinata. She couldn't even confess her feelings to Naruto. After another minute of contemplation, Hinata nervously slid open Sasuke's hospital room door.

"Hello, Sasuke-san. I hope y-you are doing well," Hinata said quietly as she studied the floor.

She noticed that the hospital floor looked quite sterile, minus a few squished apple slices scattered around. Confused, Hinata looked up to ask Sasuke why there was fruit lying there. The sheets on his bed were scattered in disarray, and nobody was under them.

He was gone.

* * *

**Okay, now we're around chapters 174/175 (episode 107) when Naruto and Sasuke have their lil fight, fyi.**

**This was also the first time I've ever written some NejiTen... so sorry if it's too cheesey/OOC (but then again, most of my sasuhina romances seem to be cheesey/OOC too)!**

**Sorry about the fight scene. I'm not very good at those either.**

**Let's just pretend that one chakra-enfused jab on the right hand could temporarily hinder Sasuke's ability to use ninjutsu and genjutsu *please*!**

**Thanks for Reading and Reviewing! ^_^**


	4. Romantic Rice

Kiba's POV

"Where's Hinata? We're supposed to be training," Kiba Inuzuka grumbled as he sat down on a log. "Kurenai-sensei has been on an emergency mission, and Shino just got assigned to a mission for the Aburame clan. Now we're all alone, Akamaru."

Kiba's dog, Akamaru barked in reply, "_Then we get the training field to ourselves_!"

Others wouldn't be able to decipher the dog's barks. Kiba, however, had been with Akamaru since his academy days. After spending so much time together, he could distinguish the meaning behind the dog's speech. His close communication with Akamaru had even allowed him to cheat on the written test for the Chuunin Exams.

"Hey, you're right," Kiba grinned as he stood up.

At times like this, the Inuzuka couldn't ask for a better lifelong companion than Akamaru. They did everything together: ate, slept, bathed, played, trained, fought, etc. As long as they were both alive, they would never be lonely.

That's why Kiba sympathized with Hinata's situation. All she wanted was a little attention from the one she admired, Naruto Uzumaki. Kiba didn't exactly remember what it was like to be lonely, but he knew that it was one of the crappiest feelings in the world. It angered him that Hiashi Hyuuga could strip away what little hope Hinata had left. Seriously, what kind of asshole would force his daughter to seduce Sasuke Uchiha?

Even though the Inuzuka promised his teammate that he would help her, he still disagreed with the whole concept that the Hyuuga council cooked up. Actually, he hated everything about the Hyuuga council. They were the ones who cast away Hinata as an heiress in the first place. It was only due to the shy girl's pleading that he didn't give the council a piece of his mind.

Kiba then felt something wet and warm pouring all over his right foot. He looked down and discovered that Akamaru was peeing on him.

"Akamaru! What the hell!" Kiba yelled.

"_I_ _thought you wanted to train, but you were just standing there like an idiot_," Akamaru shrugged.

"You didn't have to piss all over me," Kiba argued.

"_You didn't have to pour maple syrup in your sister's shoes instead of taking me out for a walk_," the little dog shot back.

"Fine, you win; let's train," the Inuzuka grinned, "though you got to admit that it was hilarious when Hana screamed after her feet got all messed up."

Kiba yelled a 'yahoo' as the two started leaping through trees and began to train. The Inuzuka felt a little guilty that he had started without Hinata, but she was late, and he just couldn't sit still any longer.

*/*/*/*/*

"Kiba!" a feminine voice screeched.

No wonder Kiba had sniffed something foul in the air.

Kiba and Akamaru jumped out of the trees and landed in front of the owner of the voice, Ino Yamanaka. The blonde girl stood with her arms crossed, a pout on her face. Her lazy boyfriend Shikamaru yawned behind her, looking like he'd rather be taking a nap. Kiba looked quizzically at the couple, wondering why they were in team eight's training field.

"I can't believe you dragged me along for this," Shikamaru sighed as he walked over to lean against a tree.

"That's what you get for not taking me out on a real date yesterday," Ino growled as she waved a fist in the air.

"How troublesome," the lazy ninja muttered, tilted his head up, and began watching the clouds.

Kiba pitied the poor guy; his girlfriend was so loud and pushy. The Inuzuka wondered how they got together in the first place. Shikamaru hated to be bothered by anything, yet Ino always bossed him around. Their relationship seemed to be difficult to maintain. Having a dog as a companion sounded more appealing to Kiba.

"Where's Hinata-chan?" Ino asked as she turned to the Inuzuka. "She's late for her lessons."

"I was going to ask you the same thing," he replied. "She didn't come for training."

As if on cue, the Hyuuga girl ran up to the trio, panting heavily. She let out an apology between gasps of air. Kiba was going to ask about her tardiness, but the blonde girl beat him to the question.

"Hinata-chan, where were you?" Ino squealed as she embraced the shy girl.

"I-I was at the hospital," Hinata squeaked. "TenTen-san hurt herself, and I went along to visit Sasuke-san."

"Did my seduction techniques work?" Ino asked.

Kiba tried to stifle a laugh, "I don't think that you're qualified to teach that."

"Asshole!" Ino screamed as she punched Kiba in the gut. "I'm a good seductress, right Shikamaru?"

Hinata, Ino, and Kiba both turned to the lazy ninja, curious to hear his response. However, Shikamaru had already begun napping under his tree.

"A-actually, Sasuke-san wasn't there. I think he w-was discharged from the hospital," Hinata said softly.

"It's about time," Kiba commented. "The Tsukuyomi must have been pretty intense for Sasuke to take weeks to recover."

He shivered as he thought of what Tsukuyomi could be like. The Inuzuka had been caught in genjutsu before, and he knew it could be really creepy or scary. On one mission, tentacles grew out of his stomach and started suffocating him. It was only after Shino had helped him release the genjutsu that Kiba found out he had been choking himself. Supposedly, Tsukuyomi was a thousand times worse than normal genjutsu. The thought of such agony caused him to shiver once more.

"Now that he's out of the hospital, we can get serious about seducing Sasuke!" the blonde girl squealed as she grabbed Hinata's hand and started dragging her out of the training field.

"O-okay," the shy girl squeaked and waved to Kiba. "I'll see y-you later, Kiba and Akamaru! And Shikamaru!"

Ino temporarily halted in her steps and yelled back, "Shikamaru, can you take over my shift at the Yamanaka Flower Shop? Thanks!"

Kiba watched sympathetically as the lazy ninja woke up from his sleep and sighed, "How troublesome."

* * *

Naruto's POV

"…so just don't use that jutsu on a comrade," Jiraiya ended his lecture to Naruto.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, Pervy Sage," Naruto Uzumaki grumbled.

He stormed off to go to Ichiraku's; it was almost four o' clock. The delicious flavor of ramen and Sakura would cheer him up; it always did. Well, that was if Sakura was still willing to kiss him. She seemed pretty upset after his fight with Sasuke.

As he clenched his hands into fists, Naruto thought of how it was all Sasuke's fault. Somehow, that teme had the nerve to glare at Naruto with such anger from his hospital bed. Then he demanded that they had to fight. Of course, Naruto agreed quickly. After all, he had learned Rasengan from Jiraiya, and he wanted to show Sasuke that he wasn't some dobe anymore.

Naruto's thoughts then dipped into his gloomy past. Back then, he was the center of Konoha's hatred. Everybody in the village avoided the Kyuubi-container like the plague. He felt completely alone and wished that at least somebody would notice him; that's why he decided to cause trouble to get attention. Sure, this caused some laughs from his classmates, but they still continued to think lowly of him.

Naruto then cooked up a new plan to become Hokage; then everybody would have to notice and respect him at the same time. When Sasuke, the person everybody looked up to, had finally acknowledged him, he savored it. Their fight, although cut short by Kakashi-sensei, had satisfied part of his need for attention. He hoped Sakura would understand his actions as he arrived behind Ichiraku's.

It was exactly four o' clock, and Sakura Haruno looked as beautiful as ever. Naruto was enchanted by how her short, pink hair swayed in the wind. He saw that she was talking, but he chose to embrace her into a kiss. Surprisingly, she immediately pushed him away with a frown on her face.

"Naruto," Sakura said gently, "I just told you I don't like you that way."

Naruto stared at her, dumbfounded at her confession.

"Sorry," she whispered.

He remained uncharacteristically silent for a moment. A stab of pain punctured his heart, and he felt loneliness seep in. He didn't understand why Sakura was dumping him over a small battle.

"Sakura, I'm sorry if my fight with Sasuke upset you," he began, a pleading look in his eyes.

"You don't understand," she shook her head. "I'm in love with Sasuke."

Now something stabbed his heart fifty more times. He stepped back, afraid she was going to hurt him again.

"I think Hinata Hyuuga likes you, though," Sakura added quickly. "She admires you, and she's copied your ninja way."

With that said, the Haruno girl ran away, tears streaming down her face.

...Hinata Hyuuga?

* * *

Hinata's POV

Hinata Hyuuga had always despised the market in Konoha. The amount of vendors and people overwhelmed the poor almost-heiress. She usually ended up bumping into others due to the crowded place. Peddlers tried to lure her into buying their overpriced products, and the aroma of all of the food mixed together sickened the shy girl. She didn't know why Ino brought her to the market, but she did know she wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible.

Ino tugged Hinata in the direction of a stall owned by a welcoming old man. The Hyuuga girl had to admit that this particular stall didn't reek of sweat and vegetables. In fact, it smelled absolutely delicious. Hinata smiled as she inhaled the scrumptious scent and watched Ino bargain with the old man. Naturally, Ino whittled the price down so low that the old man no longer seemed cheerful. The Yamanaka girl accepted the bag full of food, beaming.

"I love shopping," Ino squealed.

Hinata tried suppressing a groan. She didn't want to spend another second in the market. Unfortunately, they passed a boutique selling pearl earrings. Ino assured the almost-heiress that she would only take a second to buy the jewelry.

An hour and many purchases later, Ino led the Hyuuga girl out of the market and to the Yamanaka house. When the two girls arrived in the kitchen, the blonde girl put on a blue apron and passed a purple one to Hinata. The shy girl tied it around her waist and gave Ino a questioning look.

"The way to a man's heart is through his stomach. I learned that from Chouji," the Yamanaka girl declared. "So you're going to make Sasuke a homecoming dinner."

"T-then why are you wearing an apron too?" Hinata asked.

Ino beamed, "It matches my eyes!"

The two giggled at the blonde's never-ending vanity. Some things never changed. Hinata liked the security of knowing what to expect, and Ino liked her hair.

"I don't k-know much about cooking," Hinata confessed after her final laugh.

The Hyuuga girl's childhood consisted of having to train all of the time in order to be an acceptable heiress. After her father deemed her unworthy of the clan, she acted more like a maid and spent her time cleaning the compound. She never had a chance to learn how to cook properly. However, Hinata could brew the perfect cup of tea since she made it for her father every day. Due to her hobby in pharmacy, she also excelled in measuring ingredients. She hoped these traits would assist her cooking ability.

"It's okay," Ino smiled. "Sasuke's a simple guy. I'm sure he'll love whatever you cook."

Hinata nodded, "I c-can make rice."

"He's the only guy who tolerates eating raw tomatoes all of the time. I'm sure he's the type of guy to eat only plain rice," Ino shrugged as she took out a rice cooker.

Hinata dumped dry grains of rice into the rice cooker and gently poured in the water. After flicking a switch to turn on the machine, the shy girl watched her friend open a bag full of food. It was the same bag that Ino had bought at the market earlier. The aroma of cinnamon filled the air, and Hinata felt her stomach sing.

"This cinnamon roll represents you. After you eat it, your old identity will be gone. Your new self will no longer be represented by food, but by Sasuke's love for you," Ino instructed and tossed Hinata a cinnamon roll.

"What do you m-mean?" the almost-heiress asked as she barely caught the flying object.

"I'm letting you pig out before you go on your diet for Sasuke," Ino explained.

"D-diet?" Hinata squeaked, suddenly feeling very hungry.

"You're not fat," Ino assured her, "but we just need to make sure you keep your figure."

The only thing Hinata could do was nod and take a bite from her last mouth-watering cinnamon roll.

*/*/*/*/*

Wandering through the Uchiha compound with a plastic container full of rice was not Hinata's ideal way to spend the afternoon. She didn't know which house Sasuke lived in or if he was even in the compound at the moment.

Maybe she should go home…

"No, I-I can do this," she whispered to herself. "Sasuke-san will-"

"Will what?" a voice asked behind the shy girl.

She immediately whipped her body around and saw Sasuke standing right in front of her. His piercing, ebony eyes stared at her, as if they were trying to figure something out. Her own eyes locked onto his as she wondered how he had snuck up behind her. After realizing how close they stood together, Hinata blushed and jumped back, dropping the plastic container. The Uchiha picked it up and examined it.

"Rice?" he observed.

"Y-yes… I made you dinner t-to celebrate your release from the hospital," she said quietly.

Without a word of thanks, he nodded and headed toward one of the smaller houses in the compound. Hinata guessed he lived there as she watched him leave. With a sigh of relief, the almost-heiress smiled that she accomplished her mission, even if Ino assigned it instead of the Fifth Hokage.

"Are you coming?" Sasuke asked as he stood in the doorway of his house.

"For w-what?" she asked, dumbfounded.

"Dinner," he elaborated. "You were the one who made it."

Hinata didn't want to argue with him. After all, he was supposed to be her future husband, even if he didn't know it yet. In fact, their dinner together could also give them a chance to bond, which Hinata still needed to do. She shyly nodded at the avenger and followed him inside the house, taking her shoes off upon entering.

His home consisted of a kitchen, a living room, two bedrooms, and a bathroom. As expected, he kept his house neat and clean. Actually, there wasn't much stuff to clutter it up in the first place. Only necessary furniture filled the rooms. It completely lacked of any photos or decorations. She wondered how he could live in such an unwelcoming, sterile environment.

Another notable detail was that Sasuke's house was cold. The floor froze her feet every time she took a step. Her cheeks turned a slight shade of red, and she felt the cold seep through her jacket. Hinata hugged herself in a feeble attempt to warm her insides. She looked over to Sasuke who didn't seem to be bothered by the temperature at all. He must have been used to it.

That's when she noticed that the window in the living room was open. It allowed a chilly breeze to flow into the house, so that was why it was so cold. Hinata shivered and headed toward the window. When she was about to close it, a hand grabbed her wrist. She squeaked and turned to face Sasuke again. This time Sharingan stared at her menacingly. She promptly froze out of fear, not temperature.

"Never touch that window," he said, his voice low and threatening.

The shy girl only nodded since her vocal chords suddenly stopped working. Satisfied, Sasuke released her wrist and walked over to the kitchen. He placed Hinata's—or rather Ino's— plastic container into a microwave. While the food heated, he took out two white bowls and two sets of chopsticks. The Uchiha then removed the container from the microwave and scooped the rice into the two bowls equally. Hinata took her place at the table as Sasuke sat across from her.

* * *

Sasuke's POV

"Itadakimasu," Sasuke Uchiha muttered before digging into the rice.

The meal's taste didn't rival a skilled chef's, but it didn't taste terrible either. Hinata didn't add unnecessary flavorings and spices. It was simply rice, and that's why Sasuke liked it; his mother used to make plain rice all of the time. Sometimes Mikoto even surprised him by using the rice to make onigiri for his school lunch. He missed her.

The avenger then thought of how his mother used to tuck him into bed and sing a lullaby. She had the most beautiful singing voice; it was one of the many reasons why Fugaku Uchiha had married her. Mikoto always sang about how everything will be okay in the morning after a stormy night. Although Sasuke knew the words by heart, he never sang along; he preferred listening to his mother. When he turned five, he insisted that he was too old to be tucked in anymore, which he instantly regretted. Now he could never listen to his mother's voice again because of Itachi.

The song that used to bring Sasuke hope now depressed him. The avenger was forever trapped in the stormy night with no morning in sight. He believed that the sun would never bring him light…

"Sasuke-san, are y-you…um… all right?" Hinata squeaked from across the table, her eyes on his right hand.

Sasuke looked down and saw that he had gripped his chopsticks so hard that they had snapped in half.

"I'm fine," he stated.

"O-okay," the shy girl said softly as she brought her gaze to her bowl.

She hadn't touched her food at all, or even her chopsticks. He determined she must have been trying to diet, which he didn't understand. Hinata may have worn an oversized jacket, but she was actually slender underneath. He had occasionally seen her without her jacket during their academy days.

"Why aren't you eating? Did you poison the rice?" he smirked.

"N-no!" she blushed. "Um… I-I don't feel t-that hungry… right n-now."

Right then, her stomach growled. Sasuke couldn't believe how bad of a liar Hinata was.

"Eat," he ordered. "I don't care if you're on a diet."

The Hyuuga girl blushed an even deeper shade of red and took dainty bites of rice. This strangely reminded him of how Mikoto always obeyed Fugaku without question. He didn't understand why he kept comparing Hinata to his mother.

Maybe the rice really was poisoned.

* * *

**Sorry if I diappointed you guys with the NejiTen last chapter. My bad! ****So I tried putting a little more SasuHina in here... kinda.**

**Oh, and let's just say that the Sound Four didn't arrive after Naruto and Sasuke's fight.**

**Also, the song that Mikoto used to sing to Sasuke was "Lullabye for a Stormy Night" by Vienna Teng. **

**There are plenty AMVs of this song associating with Sasuke and the Uchiha massacre. They're such sad/kyut vids!! T_T**

**Thanks for Reading and Reviewing! ^_^**


	5. Proposal Necklace, Not Ring

**Gomennasai, it's been forever since I've updated!**

**I've just been at my church's festival the whole week, which was pretty awesome despite all of the preppies cutting me in line for the Zipper...**

**If you can tell, I kinda rushed this chapter. Sorry again!**

**Please Read and Review! ^_^**

* * *

Hinata's POV

The two had been eating for a while in silence. Hinata repeatedly sneaked glances at the boy across from her, blushed, and then took tiny bites.

"Why do you keep looking at me?" Sasuke suddenly asked.

The shy girl immediately blushed and looked down in embarrassment. She continued to eat with her eyes lowered.

Hinata politely declined Sasuke's offer for a second helping. After all, she had already eaten a whole bowl of rice. Ino would definitely get upset for the break in her diet. After their silent dinner ended, the almost-heiress washed the dishes. She didn't know where the Uchiha had wandered off to, so she decided to daydream about Naruto as she scrubbed the bowls clean.

She dreamed of sharing a bowl of ramen with Naruto at Ichiraku's. He talked about his latest mission while she listened, staring into his cerulean eyes. She wished that this perfect moment could last forever. Naruto pointed down at something in the bowl. Hinata's eyes widened as she spotted a ring. She let Naruto put it on her, and he apologized for getting broth all over it. She accepted the marriage proposal with a hug.

Of course, the almost-heiress knew that her daydreams were impossible. Sasuke would be the one to propose to her, not Naruto. She replaced Naruto with Sasuke in her daydream, but couldn't quite picture it. The Uchiha definitely wouldn't propose at Ichiraku's. She wondered if he could be romantic. Perhaps he'd hide the ring inside a shuriken and throw it at her when they trained. Maybe he'd even…

"Put this on," Sasuke said, suddenly appearing right next to her.

Hinata hyperventilated. Was he talking about putting on an engagement ring? She didn't expect him to propose so soon; she seduced him faster than she thought. After all, they only had dinner and a couple of training sessions together. She looked around for a ring, but didn't see any. Instead, the Uchiha pulled out a necklace. The shy girl sighed in relief; she still had a little time left.

She noted that it wasn't particularly flashy. In fact, the necklace happened to be plain and simple. It consisted of an Uchiha crest dangling from a black chord. Sasuke held it up to her, and the crest twinkled in the sunlight shining from the eternally-open window. She accepted the necklace, quickly tied it on, and gave him a questioning look.

"Technically, you're not allowed in the Uchiha compound since you're not an Uchiha," he stated.

_Yet._

Hinata added that tiny, unspoken word silently. She would be an Uchiha, not an Uzumaki.

"This necklace has the Uchiha crest on it. It symbolizes your loyalty to my clan, so you can legally be in the compound," he added.

Hinata was more surprised by the quantity of his words, not the content. That was the most he had ever spoken to her in her life. This meant she succeeded in bringing him a little closer to her. She could practically hear wedding bells chiming…

It was too much. She didn't want to be close to him.

"T-thank you, Sasuke-san," she said quickly as she tucked the necklace behind her hitai-ite. "I'm g-going now. I'll s-see you tonight."

The shy girl quickly ran out of the compound before he could respond. She kept running, not even knowing where her feet were taking her. She passed by a couple who ferociously made out on a park bench. Hinata tried to suppress the urge to barf as she kept running. After several more minutes, she arrived at her favorite training field. It was only then that she realized that she was crying.

"I-I'm so selfish," she said sadly and pulled out seven kunai. "Why can't I do it? Why c-can't I love him?"

Hinata activated her Byakugan, looked at the ground, and threw the kunai into the air. She dodged the shower of knives and repeated the process. The almost-heiress kept training, trying to push the thoughts out of her head. Tears still flowed down her cheeks, so she decided to increase the intensity of her training.

Instead of dodging, she began used her chakra-infused palms to send the kunai flying back into the air. She continued juggling even after her hands started bleeding; this pain was nothing compared to how she hurt inside.

"I'm so w-weak," she cried after a few hours of training.

She sat under a tree, curled into a ball, and wept.

* * *

Shikamaru's POV

"Shikamaru!" a feminine voice screeched. "Get up, you lazy ass!"

Shikamaru Nara jolted awake, startled by the sudden cry. Whoever woke him up just interrupted a wonderful dream. In it, he was lying down on a giant cloud. He drifted over Konoha, finally away from everybody who nagged him. He didn't have any duties to fulfill; the lazy ninja merely spent his time doing absolutely nothing.

After rubbing his eyes, Shikamaru told himself that he would just answer the customer's questions and then go immediately back to sleep. He could always muster enough effort if it included a nap at the end.

"I thought I asked you to work my shift!" his girlfriend yelled. "You owe me!"

Screw that plan. It was his girlfriend, not a customer. It looked he wouldn't be getting sleep any time soon. He inwardly groaned at the thought of staying awake for the rest of his—or actually Ino's—shift at the Yamanaka Flower Shop. She worked too many hours; he'd been behind the counter for practically the entire day.

"Nobody's been in the shop anyway," he yawned.

"How would you know? You've been sleeping the whole time!" she exclaimed and then quickly added, "Well, there's a way you could make up for it."

Ino flashed him a big smile, causing him to sigh; this meant that the blonde girl had a favor to ask. The last time she asked for one, he had to dress up as a daisy and walk around Konoha, advertising the great sales that the Yamanaka Flower Shop provided. Kiba, Naruto, and Chouji had teased him incessantly afterward. It was more than troublesome; it was downright embarrassing.

"Just tell me," he sighed, preparing himself.

"Shikamaru, I need you to bring Sasuke and Hinata on the next mission you're assigned," the blonde girl sang.

Although this task wasn't as terrible as sneaking crushed diet pills into Chouji's barbeque beef, it was still troublesome. Being a chuunin meant more responsibility, the exact opposite of what Shikamaru wanted. That meant he would have to actually lead a team occasionally. This time, he now had to recruit both Sasuke and Hinata by Ino's request. It would require talking to people he didn't normally associate with. How troublesome.

"Why?" he groaned.

"They need more bonding time, and you're the only chuunin I can ask," she explained.

The lazy ninja wanted to argue that the two could bond without going on a mission, but he didn't feel like it.

Instead, he reluctantly agreed, "I guess I'll do it."

"Thanks, Shikamaru! You're the best!" Ino squealed as and embraced him.

"This'll be a drag," Shikamaru replied as he staggered back a bit.

Ino pulled away from him and smiled, "Don't forget to lock up the store after my shift's over."

With that said, the blonde girl left Shikamaru to do the work once again. He began to think that she was even lazier than him. However, he pushed these thoughts aside and decided to take a nap. The lazy ninja almost reached dreamland when a customer entered the Yamanaka Flower Shop.

He inwardly groaned as he raised his head and yawned, "May I help you?"

"Yeah," Sasuke replied. "Have you seen Hinata Hyuuga?"

* * *

Hinata's POV

"Don't cry," a familiar voice pleaded.

Hinata looked up, revealing puffy eyes. Even the Byakugan eyes, the powerful kekke genkai, shed tears. She noticed that Naruto Uzumaki stood before her. The knucklehead ninja smiled down at her and offered a hand. Since she was too depressed to blush and faint, Hinata just sniffled and accepted his hand. He pulled her up to her feet, still holding onto her hand.

"Hinata," Naruto began in an uncharacteristically serious tone, "what happened? Why are you crying?"

"N-nothing," she lied, "i-it's… allergies."

The almost-heiress knew she couldn't lie at all. Sasuke had seen right through her deception earlier when she attempted to starve herself. She predicted that Naruto would force her to tell the truth too…

"Oh, then I can ask Granny Tsunade to whip you up some allergy medicine," Naruto grinned and let go of her hand.

…or not.

Hinata felt a tad disappointed that Naruto was so oblivious to the truth. However, he did offer to help her "allergy" problem, and that counted for something, right? She wiped her tears off with her sleeve, smiled, and politely declined Naruto's offer to visit the Fifth Hokage. Rejection flickered across his face for a second, but then he recovered with a grin.

"Hey, I know it's late, but do you want to go to Ichiraku's?" Naruto blushed, scratching the back of his head. "As in… a date?"

This was it; it was the one thing that Hinata's heart wanted most. Naruto Uzumaki, the one who she admired for so long, had finally acknowledged her romantically! She wondered what had caused him to finally notice her.

"A… d-d-d-date?" Hinata squeaked, making sure her ears didn't deceive her.

Naruto nodded eagerly. Now that sadness no longer distracted her, the almost-heiress' shyness kicked in. She felt her face turn into an unnatural shade of red, and a world of darkness seemed to engulf her. Before she could faint, something in her consciousness screamed at her. She tried pushing the incessant shrieks away. However, they kept buzzing around in her head like bees in a hive.

"Sasuke-san," she finally whispered.

"What about the teme?" the knucklehead ninja frowned in annoyance.

He scrunched up his face, and his eyes had a faraway look, as if in a flashback. Hinata knew that the two were best friends. She wondered if they had gotten in a fight earlier due to their never-ending rivalry; Naruto seemed to be reacting too harshly to the thought of his best friend.

"Um… sorry, N-naruto-kun. I c-can't go out with you; I-I already had d-dinner with Sasuke-san," she explained. "What a-about… Sakura-chan? Isn't she y-your girlfriend?"

After that, Naruto's look of rejection returned, and Hinata realized she had unintentionally reopened a wound.

She quickly added, "Did s-something happen with-"

"Sakura broke up with me for Sasuke," he replied as he studied the ground. "I thought that she loved me, you know? Sure, she had always flirted with Sasuke, but I thought Sakura and I had something real."

He sneaked a glance at Hinata, and the shy girl tried to mask how hurt she felt. Naruto and Sakura used to be one of the happiest couples in Konoha. She didn't know how to respond, so she continued to listen to him in silence.

"Of course, that was a lie; Sakura never loved me," he snorted. "Then she told me how you had always watched and admired me; you've even been doing it since our academy days. I know I've never really noticed you, but I think I want to start. I want to get to know you, Hinata. Can we have dinner together tomorrow? I have two coupons for ramen at Ichiraku's!"

Naruto grinned at the almost-heiress, hope glinting in his eyes. His cerulean eyes reminded her of the ocean, a place she had always wanted to see.

"Naruto-kun… you're s-so strong and determined, and I wanted t-to be just like y-you. You inspired m-me to w-work harder, to prove I'm n-not worthless. I've always wanted y-your attention, but you only gave it to Sakura-chan. It h-hurt to see y-you with another person," Hinata admitted.

This time, it was Naruto that was speechless. He winced and sent her a look of apology.

"I'm g-glad you've finally noticed me," she continued. "It's j-just… why are you so blind? All these years… there's too many to count… I've been watching you, Naruto-kun! I was the only one who didn't shun you in our academy days. I believed in you every step of the way. I… I loved you! Now, only after Sakura broke up with you, you want to be with me? It's like I'm just second place. I know I don't deserve it, but it would be nice to be first in something. Even I have dreams, Naruto-kun. I thought my dreams included you, but now I've realized that they don't."

This happened to be the first time that Hinata had ever talked to Naruto without stuttering. It was also the first time she was truly angry at somebody. This tired the almost-heiress out, so Hinata finally allowed herself to faint.

* * *

Sasuke's POV

Sasuke Uchiha had finally located her. The avenger searched through all of Konoha for her—the Hyuuga compound, the academy, Ichiraku's, the market, the Hokage's office, and the Yamanaka Flower Shop—with no success. He wondered why he even bothered looking for her. Sure, she had left the rice's plastic container at his house, but that didn't mean he had to wash and return it.

Yet, he thought it was a waste to turn back now. After all, he spotted the Hyuuga girl in one of the training fields. However, she was unconscious and in the arms of a confused dobe.

"What happened to Hinata?" Sasuke asked, an edge to his voice.

"What are you doing here, teme?" Naruto growled as he gently set her on the ground.

"I think I was the one who asked a question first," the avenger narrowed his eyes.

Because of their recent battle, the tension between the best friends increased. Sasuke didn't want to believe that Naruto's Rasengan was more powerful than his Chidori. After all, the Uchiha had always been the best at everything. He couldn't let some dobe surpass him now. He needed to be stronger than everyone, especially Itachi.

"Stop acting so tough! With my new jutsu, I'm just as good as you now!" Naruto exclaimed

"Let's just see who's more powerful, dobe," Sasuke replied.

Naruto created seven shadow clones, and Sasuke activated his Sharingan. The avenger felt eager to put the knucklehead ninja in his place. However, he knew better than to rush in like an idiot. He decided to let Naruto attack first, and then execute a swift counterattack with a single Chidori. They both glared at each other. Neither of them made a move, daring the other to go first.

"Sasuke-san?" a small voice squeaked. "W-what are you d-doing here?"

Surprised, Sasuke looked over to Hinata, who just woke up. His Sharingan deactivated, and he looked over to Naruto. The dobe's shadow clones disappeared into puffs of smoke. Hinata slowly stood up and gave Sasuke a questioning look. The Uchiha reached into his pouch and pulled out the plastic container. He tossed it at the Hyuuga girl, who caught it as a reflex.

"You left it my house," he stated.

"S-sorry," she whispered.

"What are you apologizing to him for?" Naruto yelled. "He's just a bastard!"

The Hyuuga girl turned to Naruto with her head hung low. Sasuke didn't know what had happened between the two, but he knew that it was probably the reason why Hinata had fainted. The Uchiha guessed that Naruto had asked her out. She was proably embarrassed by the fact that she reacted like a fangirl. He smirked at the thought.

"Naruto-kun, please d-don't call Sasuke-san names. It's n-not his fault; it's mine," Hinata said softly. "I-I've always admired you, and I always w-will, but… I don't love you anymore. I hope w-we can be friends."

The dobe's face puckered, and he managed to say, "I'll see you later."

Without looking back, Naruto ran away, leaving Hinata and Sasuke together. The Uchiha didn't know why she just rejected him. He thought that the shy girl loved the knucklehead ninja. Maybe she was forced to reject him by Kiba. He heard that Kiba and Naruto's fight in the preliminaries of the Chuunin Exam had been pretty intense. Hinata probably listened to her teammate instead of her heart. Sasuke wondered why she hadn't shed any tears yet.

"We don't have to train tonight if you don't want to," he said casually.

"N-no, I want to train," she replied.

This surprised him; he assumed that the girl would want to spend the night crying over a boy. However, when she raised her head to meet his eyes, Hinata had on a determined expression. It looked as if she was totally over whatever happened with Naruto, and all she wanted to do was become stronger.

"Hn, I'll see you here at midnight," he grunted.

With that said, the two departed back to their compounds. Sasuke looked back and decided that she deserved to wear his mother's necklace.

* * *


	6. He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not

* * *

**Warning: Rushed!!**

**I'm sorry if you spot any errors in this chapter, and that this chapter is insanely late.**

**My poor excuse: I hardly have any time to write anymore due to school and its unnecessary homework. Ugh.**

**Please Read and Review! ^_^**

* * *

Sakura's POV

"A shinobi must never show emotion," Sakura Haruno quizzed herself in order to fight boredom.

After dumping Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura felt as if a giant hole had been ripped into her heart. She didn't know how to deal with it; she didn't even know why she felt this way. After all, she thought she had never loved Naruto. However, the hole in her heart told her otherwise. Sakura could no longer deny it; she did love the knucklehead ninja. In a desperate attempt to fill the gap, she obsessed over Sasuke.

That explained why she sat on a bench next to Konoha's front gate in the middle of the night, reciting the Rules of the Shinobi. She had remembered how Sasuke craved for power. In fact, his purpose in life stemmed from obtaining strength to avenge his clan. She didn't quite understand his hate towards his brother Itachi Uchiha, but she did know that Sasuke had his mind set on killing him no matter what.

In the Forest of Death during the Chuunin Exams, Orochimaru had left Sasuke a promise of power on his neck, the curse mark. The Haruno girl remembered how scared she had been to see Sasuke in so much pain. Yet, he somehow overcame the pain and converted it into a source of power, just what he wanted. Even though the curse mark provided incredible abilities, she feared it. She hated how it turned Sasuke into an unrecognizable person.

As much as Sakura wanted to deny it, she knew that the Uchiha would probably do anything to become stronger. She feared that he would leave Konoha so Orochimaru could grant him more power. If the avenger even had a thought about leaving the village for the snake Sannin, the Haruno girl would be waiting for him at the front gate…

"A shinobi will prepare before it is too late," she continued to recite, slowly lulling herself to sleep.

…whether she would be awake or not happened to be a different story.

* * *

Sasuke's POV

Sasuke Uchiha jolted awake, panting heavily. Clenching the sheets, he gritted his teeth and muttered some curse words. After he had undergone Itachi's Tsukiyomi, the avenger had been experiencing nightmares.

In his dreams, he turned into his naïve, eight-year-old self. He watched his mother hum a soft tune while she cooked rice; Mikoto Uchiha served rice with every meal. After carefully pouring in the water, his mother ruffled Sasuke's hair and asked him if he wanted to hear a story while the rice cooked. Of course, he eagerly agreed.

"I remember the first time I met your father," Mikoto smiled, a reminiscent shine in her eyes. "He was in my weapons class at the academy. On the first day of class, we had to demonstrate how far along our techniques with shuriken were. I hated using shuriken; they always slipped from my grip."

"You're great with shuriken!" Sasuke protested, interrupting his mother.

"That's because your father ended up tutoring me," she laughed. "You see, on that first day of weapons class, I accidentally threw the shuriken straight at his head. Luckily, the instructor caught it just in time. From then on, your father hated me. He pulled me aside after class and showed me how to properly hold a shuriken, but he scowled the whole time."

Sasuke knew the rest of the story. The two grew closer to an awkward companionship, not quite friends and not quite enemies. However, they couldn't exist without the other. Fugaku would provide the tutoring lessons to help Mikoto become stronger. In reciprocation, Mikoto gave Fugaku something to work for, and she even made him smile from time to time.

When the two were put on the same Genin teams, their fate had been sealed; they were destined for each other. Unlike Neji Hyuuga, Sasuke never believed in fate, but he made an exception when it came to his mother. She always became starry-eyed when talking about how destiny intertwined with everyone.

The young Sasuke was startled out of his thoughts when he heard a scream. He looked at the owner of the cry, his mother. Her already pale skin had turned white when she saw the person in front of her with a sword in his hand.

"Itachi," she cried when he plunged the blade into her heart, "…why?"

Seeing his mother's limp form on the ground, Sasuke looked fearfully at his older brother.

"You… you killed Mother," Sasuke whispered, not wanting to believe his own words.

"Foolish little brother," Itachi spat, raising his sword in Sasuke's direction.

Right before he was about to die, Sasuke always woke up. He hated how his heart pumped erratically and how he woke up covered in sweat. His nightmares always struck the person he missed most, his mother. After all, even though he craved his father's praise, Sasuke had always been taken care of by his mother. She patched him up when he got hurt, made him his favorite onigiri for school, told him stories, and sang songs to him.

"Damn Itachi," the avenger hissed.

Checking the clock, he shoved the covers off of himself and took a shower. He tried to force all of his thoughts of the Uchiha massacre down the shower drain. After changing into some clean clothes, Sasuke decided to head for the training field to meet Hinata Hyuuga.

Silently running through the streets of Konoha, he wondered why the Hyuuga girl had given up on Naruto Uzumaki so easily. Sasuke could have sworn that she had been infatuated with Naruto. From the context of what he had witnessed, the dobe had actually given Hinata a chance to go out with him. He had asked her on a date, but she declined.

Sasuke didn't even know why Naruto had turned to the Hyuuga girl in the first place. Maybe he had finally screwed up his relationship with Sakura and needed a consolation prize.

Smirking to himself, he arrived at his favorite training field. He was surprised that Hinata had actually arrived before him. She had begun doing push-ups, and it looked like she struggled to get past her seventh one.

"E-eight," she counted to herself. "Just… t-two more until 10."

Her arms started shaking, and Sasuke silently watched as she struggled to finish her set of 10 push-ups. Her determination reminded him of Naruto's. In fact, he suspected that she adopted his own mantra of never giving up. They both had the same motto, so why had she turned him down?

"You're early," the Uchiha stated.

When she realized he had been studying her the whole time, Hinata's face turned a deep shade of red. She collapsed from her push-up position and hurriedly stood up. Her eyes scanned the grass in front of her, and Sasuke peered at the girl in front of him. He thought he had known Hinata Hyuuga before, but it seemed that she surprised him all of the time.

"Sasuke-san, I… I wanted t-to ask you something," she said quietly as she poked her index fingers together.

He gave her a look that told her to go on.

"Um… could… could y-you…," she stuttered and took a big breath before blurting out, "could you help m-me with my shuriken aim, please?"

Sasuke could almost wince from the irony; his father helped his mother with her shuriken aim in the story. Hinata greatly reminded him of Mikoto Uchiha. They seemed so alike in so many aspects. He knew that his mother was gone forever, but, somehow, seeing Hinata helped fill the gap a bit. It almost made him sick to think that way, but he shoved his thoughts aside and nodded his head at the Hyuuga girl.

"Hit the trunk," he ordered as he gestured to the closest tree.

Hinata smiled in thanks and pulled out a throwing star. She tossed it at the tree, and it landed high in the branches.

He didn't want to think of the fact of how her accuracy was just as terrible as his mother's.

* * *

Hinata's POV

Hinata Hyuuga didn't want to look weak in front of her tutor, but she finally asked, "Can we t-take a break, please?"

Her arms felt dead-tired from throwing multiple shuriken during the past hour. With Sasuke's aid, her aim had improved quite a bit; TenTen would have been proud. With that thought, Hinata remembered how TenTen had hurt herself in order to get Neji to realize his love for her. Perhaps if Hinata inflicted pain upon herself, maybe…

…no. That technique would never earn any respect from Sasuke. After all, Hinata didn't only want to be loved. She also wanted to be respected. That was why she had turned down Naruto.

"Sure," Sasuke grunted.

She smiled and lay on the grass, looking up at the stars. One of the constellations resembled a shuriken. The almost-heiress felt tired of the weapon, so she scanned her eyes across the rest of the sky. They landed onto a pair of ebony eyes. Blushing under his gaze, Hinata couldn't put a label on Sasuke's expression, but he seemed troubled.

"Um… a-are you o-okay, Sasuke-san?" she asked.

"Yeah," he muttered.

"You s-seem a little…," she continued, "…sad."

"It's nothing," he snapped. "Who are you to judge me? What do you know about pain?"

Hinata got up and faced him, but she lowered her eyes to the ground.

"My m-mother died w-when I was young," the shy girl said softly. "My father… w-when he looks a-at me, he s-sees her. He h-hates me for it, a-and he thinks I'm w-weak, which is t-true. I-I failed my father, m-my clan, my missions, and the Chuunin Exams. It hurts t-to feel so… worthless."

With her head bent low, Hinata waited for Sasuke's judgment. She had just poured out all of her troubles for him, except for the marriage situation. The almost-heiress couldn't believe she actually trusted him to understand her feelings. After all, Hinata had only been training with him for a couple of days.

"At least you still have a father," Sasuke spat. "Do you know what it's like to wake up in an empty compound, to live in the exact place where everyone precious to you has died? There's a difference between the Hyuuga and Uchiha. One clan is massacred, and one is alive. You don't know how true pain feels like."

The Hyuuga didn't expect him to start crying over her troubles, but a little empathy would have been nice.

"You're w-wrong, Sasuke-san," Hinata whispered. "There are d-different kinds of p-pain. I m-may not understand how y-your pain feels like, but I d-do feel my own kind."

An ominous thunder rumbled across the midnight sky, as if the heavens agreed with the Hyuuga girl. She jumped up slightly in surprise while Sasuke continued to glare at her. Silence engulfed the training field, minus the pitter-patter of the rain. It soaked through her jacket, chilling her to her soul.

"We s-should go now b-before we catch a c-cold," she finally spoke up. "If you w-want, I can bring y-you some more rice-"

"You're not my mother," he stated before disappearing.

Hinata stood in the rain by herself, not even caring if she got sick anymore. She had just destroyed the remnants of any form of companionship she had with Sasuke. For some reason, he wanted to believe he was the only one who was suffering. She wanted to help him, but she met rejection instead.

"I'm s-sorry," she whispered aloud.

*/*/*/*/*

"Wahoo! Let's go, Akamaru!" Kiba Inuzuka shouted in the distance.

Team Eight, minus Shino and Kurenai-sensei, were practicing in their training field. Hinata managed to finish a set of 11 push-ups. She possessed terrible upper body strength, but at least her flexibility made up for it. After another agonizing set of push-ups, she rolled over and took a five second break.

However, a navy flower caught her eye. It was short but had petals the size of kunai. For some reason, the Hyuuga girl had a strange urge to touch the petals. She picked the flower and plucked off the first petal, which felt like silk. She sadly pictured Sasuke's face in her mind.

"H-he loves me," she chanted and plucked off a second petal. "H-he loves me not."

Hinata repeated the process until one petal remained on the flower.

"He loves m-me," she said, disappointed, "not."

"Do you love him?" a voice asked.

Hinata looked up and saw none other than Shikamaru Nara. The Nara looked at her with bored eyes. He slouched with his hands shoved in his pockets. However, she knew that behind his lazy exterior was a genius. Ino, on the other hand, declared he was more lazy than smart. She constantly complained on how he never took her on "real dates."

The shy girl didn't know much about dating. The only exposure she had gotten was when she watched Naruto and Sakura make out behind Ichiraku's. Of course, she knew that Kurenai-sensei and Asuma-sensei also went on dates; she had seen them hold hands before. Other than that, dating was a mystery to her.

The Hyuuga girl wondered whether eating dinner at Sasuke's house counted as a date even though they hadn't kissed or held hands. In fact, they barely spoke to each other. The only eventful part of the dinner happened to be when Sasuke gave her the Uchiha crest necklace. Though, he only gave it to her so she could legally enter the Uchiha compound, not because he actually liked her.

"I'm not s-sure what love f-feels like anymore," the shy girl finally admitted to Shikamaru.

"Well, it's a drag," he yawned, "because you want to be with the person even though they're troublesome."

Hinata smiled shyly and asked, "Do y-you think Ino-chan's troublesome?"

"She made me work her shift at the Yamanaka Flower Shop yesterday," Shikamaru groaned. "I also have to take you on a mission today."

Apparently, Kiba and Akamaru had been listening in on the conversation. The two appeared in front of them, covered in sweat and mud. Hinata crinkled her nose; they both smelled like dog. Of course, Kiba would probably take that as a compliment. He prided over how he was close to canines.

"Mission?" Kiba grinned. "Finally! It's been forever since Team Eight's been on one!"

"You're lucky; I've been working non-stop ever since I've become a Chuunin," Shikamaru sighed. "How troublesome."

"At least you're a Chuunin now," Kiba argued. "I hate being stuck doing nothing without a leader; I wish I could just lead the missions myself. It sucks, right Akamaru?"

Akamaru, who sat on top of Kiba's head, barked in agreement.

"So what's our assignment?" the Inuzuka asked.

"Actually, I'm just taking Sasuke and Hinata with me," the lazy ninja yawned. "Ino wants them to bond during the mission."

At the mention of Sasuke, Hinata's smile fell. She wasn't sure if she wanted to see him so soon. He was probably still angry with her. She wasn't quite sure how she upset him; she didn't know why he wanted to suffer by himself. When the Hyuuga girl became sad, she didn't want to burden anyone with her down mood, but it felt nice when someone cared for her.

"Fine, I guess Akamaru and I'll keep training here," the Inuzuka mumbled.

Kiba and Akamaru jumped into the trees and started practicing Fang Over Fang.

"I guess we'll have to find Sasuke now," Shikamaru sighed.

With that said, Shikamaru and Hinata departed the training field in search for the Uchiha. They wandered throughout the Hidden Leaf Village. After a couple of minutes, they decided to split up. The Hyuuga girl remembered the necklace hiding behind her hitai-ite; she had legal permission to go inside the Uchiha compound.

Hinata took off running to the remote corner of Konoha. She thought she saw a depressed Naruto Uzumaki when she passed Ichiraku's, so she instantly looked the other way. Ever since she rejected him yesterday, the Hyuuga girl didn't want to think of the knucklehead ninja that much. Pushing the unwanted thoughts out of her mind, she ran faster. It took her five minutes to reach the compound. She hesitated for another minute, and then she walked inside, clutching the Uchiha crest on her necklace.

"Sasuke-san? A-are you h-here?" she called out.

Hinata spotted the house in the compound that Sasuke resided in. She walked up to it and knocked lightly on the door twice.

"S-sasuke-san?" she said softly.

"Did you need me?" a voice asked.

Startled, she turned around and found the Uchiha in front of her. After a small squeak of surprise, she felt glad that she had found him. She wasn't sure if he was still angry; his face had been set into an emotionless expression.

"Y-yes," she whispered.

She needed him in more ways than one.

* * *


End file.
